Former Vice President Joe Biden hits the campaign trail for Connecticut’s pro-education, pro-union candidates.
In a rousing speech at Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy in Hartford, where a rally was held this afternoon for gubernatorial hopeful Ned Lamont, former Vice President Joe Biden urged Connecticut voters to cast their ballots for pro-union, pro-education candidates.
“Look at the people behind me,” he said, referring to Lamont, Congressional hopeful Jahana Hayes, and Senator Chris Murphy. “Look at the education they fought for and the education they earned.
“Connecticut, you build candidates who are real, who are authentic, and who mean what they say. Ned Lamont is a man of real honor and decency who understands that ordinary people can do extraordinary things if given the chance.”
He noted, too, the pressure that anti-labor forces have exerted at the national level and in statehouses around the country. “Look how far they’ve gone to suppress unions and wages. I’m a union guy. I’m protecting unions.”
In a reference to Lamont’s challenger Bob Stefanowski, who has applauded efforts to weaken unions and whose economic plan for Connecticut could decimate public schools, Biden added, “Look what Ned’s opponent is talking about. Elect Ned Lamont to be your next governor. And Send Jahana to Congress.”
CEA President Jeff Leake, with CEA Retired member Karen DiMenna, wait for the candidates to take the stage.
Calling Hayes a “woman with a backbone like a ramrod,” Biden praised her work as a teacher and her accomplishments as a local, state, and national Teacher of the Year.
He also lauded Murphy’s record on commonsense gun control in the wake of Sandy Hook, characterizing the senator as “the most significant, consequential fighter we have in the United States of America.”
Your vote is your voice
In her own push for Lamont’s candidacy, Hayes asked the crowd, numbering in the hundreds, “Do you want a Connecticut where every single person from every single community has access to a high-quality education? Where workers can collectively bargain and negotiate? Where the promises made are the promises kept? Where schools can be safe without arming teachers?”
In his campaign for governor, Ned Lamont pledges to work with candidates like Jahana Hayes, who support strong public schools and strong unions.
She explained, “I know what good government looks like. I know what happens when government works. I am what happens when government works.”
Hayes promised that she, Lamont, Murphy, and their slate of candidates would use their voice and their platform to build up education and to speak up for those who do not have a voice. She also reminded constituents, “Your vote is your voice.”
Taking the stage, Lamont thanked Hayes for being a “champion for kids all across this country” and pledged that, unlike Bob Stefanowski, who’s “going to slam education,” he and running mate Susan Bysiewicz “are going to do the exact opposite. We’re going to invest in education and in our future,” which he called Connecticut values, “not Trump’s values.”
